PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: 'Real training camp' about to begin

After two days in helmets and shells, the pads are about to come on at Patriots camp.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

FOXBORO – Bill Belichick calls it the start of “real training camp.”

After two days in helmets and shells, the Patriots are about to put on the pads.

“Looking forward to it,” running back Rex Burkhead said following Friday’s training camp practice on the fields behind Gillette Stadium. “It’s always nice to get out and put the pads on, first day of contact, everyone’s kind of geeked up and excited. So it’s always good.

“It kind of gives that first taste of real football. I haven’t been in pads since Jan. 1 (when he wrapped up the 2016 regular season with the Cincinnati Bengals). It’s a little sooner for these guys. So I’m just getting ready to get some contact in.”

Obviously, Belichick is ready to observe what transpires at Saturday morning’s practice, the 2017 team’s first of the summer in pads.

The Patriots head coach took a good deal of time at his Friday morning press conference to embark upon a rant, warning the gathered media against overevaluating what transpires on the first couple of days of camp.

“We’re not in pads,” was the essence of Belichick’s message. “We’re not tackling guys. We’re not jamming the receivers, blocking each other in the running game … we’re not defeating run blocks, we’re not doing any of those things.”

Mocking the media, Belichick said: “I know everybody’s all excited when a guy catches a pass, but when the defense doesn’t jam him or they’re not allowed to really, because we don’t want heavy contact out there, aren’t competing for contact at the end of the play, then it’s not quite the same as when all of that’s going on. I’m not taking anything away from the receivers. I’m not taking anything away from anybody. I’m just saying it is what it is. The competitive level out there is not what it’s going to be starting (Saturday), so to evaluate players competitively when they’re not on a competitive level, I have a hard time with.

“But I know a lot of the people are real good at that and they can make a lot more out of it than I can, but due to my personal limitations and my personal inability to make those evaluations, I don’t make them. We can keep asking about how everybody does on ‘this’ and how everybody does on ‘that’.”

Ninkovich still missing: Linebacker-defensive end Rob Ninkovich and long snapper Joe Cardona both missed their second straight day of practice, Belichick saying only that both were absent for personal reasons.

The wide receiver corps was thin with both Danny Amendola and Malcolm Mitchell missing Friday’s practice and Cody Hollister exiting early with an injury.

Defensive end Kony Ealy, who was seen on Thursday but did not practice, took the field on Friday and gave a vague answer for his absence.

“You have to ask Coach Bill,” Ealy answered when asked why he hadn’t practiced on Thursday. “Me and him had something going or whatever, but other than that just excited to be back out here and ready to go.”

Jones, Hogan in tiff: He may have struggled last season, but it seems the fight hasn’t been taken out of Cyrus Jones’ game.

The Patriots’ second-year cornerback had an exchange with Chris Hogan during Friday’s practice, slapping the ball out of the wide receiver’s hands and appearing to exchange words with him after Hogan made a reception inside the 5-yard-line.

The Patriots’ top pick in the 2016 NFL Draft is looking to rebound from a rookie year in which his struggles in the return game (he fumbled five times) led to his inactivity at season’s end.

While admitting that he hopes to increase his role this year – he appeared in just 10 regular-season games (none in the postseason), starting one, in 2016 – Jones said, “I’m not really too worried about it. I’m just trying to come out here, work hard and get better.

“I’m just focusing on the details, the little things that I think will help me out,” said Jones. “Just trying to come out here and get better every day.”

Two for the price of none: It’s a twinbill in Foxboro on Saturday with practice on the fields located behind Gillette Stadium scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. and Raymond Clayborn’s induction into the team’s hall of fame slated for 12:30 p.m. on NRG Plaza outside The Hall at Patriot Place.

Both events are free and open to the public.

As always, fans planning to attend are encouraged to check www.patriots.com/trainingcamp or to call the training camp hotline at 508-549-0001 prior to heading for Gillette.

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